ARBITRATION COURT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2000, 6 March 1914, Page 5

ARBITRATION COURT.

CASE ON APPEAL. FURNITURE TRADE AWARD. The sittings of the Court of Arbitration were continued yesterday. Mr. Justice- Stringer presided, and sitting with him as assessors were Mr. W. Scott (employers' representative) and Mr. J. A. M'Cullongh (employees' representative). Tho rirst business dealt witli by the Court was an appeal from a decision of Die 'Magistrate's Court in an action for alleged breach of award. The appollants were: Tho -Wellington United Furniture Trade Industrial Union of Workers (plaintiffs in the Court below) and tho rqspondent was tho Scoullar Company, Ltd. (defendant in the Court below). Mr. 1 , . Levi appeared for appellants, and' Mr. T.. S. Weston for Scoullar rind Co., Ltd.. In tho Magistrate's Court ; the Wellington Furniture Union had claimed to recover, from Scoullar and Company, tho sum of £10 as penalty for an alleged offence under Section 5 of tho Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act, 1908. The following were the particulars:—

Tho defendant company, on or about Juno '22, 1913, committed a breach of Clause 5 of the. Furniture Award by employing iy tho uphols- ; tering branch a greater number of apprentices, , in proportion to, journeymen in that branch than they. 1 were entitled to by the' award— that is to say, that, having only three journeymen in the branch, the company employed two apprentices instead of one. On December 16, 1913, the Magistrate (Mr. J. S. Evans) gave judgment for Scoullar and Co., with £1 Is. costs, holding that the time the company really had four journeymen in their»employment, inasmuch-as tho branch included the departments of mattressmaking and carpet-laying. From this decision, the Wellington Furniture Union appealed, on the ground that tho finding was erroneous in law, and tlyit tho Magistrate' had wrongly held that the company (in calculating tho nunibor of apprentices which, it was entitled to employ in the upholstering branch) could : lump together all journeymen in tho different departments of the-upholstering branch. Aftqr liearhig argument tho Court reserved decision.

Plumbers and Dominion Award. During the remainder of.the morning, the Court was. occupied with the further hewing of the plumbers' dispute, in . which a Dominion award is Bought. Tho applicants were: The New Zealand Federated Plumbers' and Gaslitters' Union, and tho respondents wero the New.: Zealand Federation of Master Plumbors. Mr. R. Breen, of Dunedin, appeared for tho workers, and associated with him were: Messrs. J. Clark, of Auckland, and i\ Swindells, of Eavensbouriie. The employers wero represented'by Mr. ,W.- A. AV. Grenfell. , , The demands of the workers were principally for a week of 44 hours, with a minimum ivajo of Is. txl. per hour for journeymen, and Is. ikl, per hour for leading hands engaged on a job. Counter proposals were submitted by the employers,, suggesting chiefly .that tho week's work should-not exceed 45 hours, or 48 hours where tho business of tinsmith was carried ,on with the business of that , .of plumber. Eates of pay to be Is. od. per hour for registered plumbers and Is. 3d. per hour for unregistered pliimbbrs. jSlvi.dence conimenced on AVednesday afteniobn, and was not concluded at 1 p.m. : yesterday, at which time the hearing was adjourned until this morning.

' COMPENSATION. MISHAP TO A CITY DRIVER. Two compensation claims were dealt with in the Court of Arbitration yestoday afternoon. The first of these was that in which Jeremiah O'Connor, driver, of Wellington, was plaintiff, and J. O'Brien and Co., carriers, of Wellington, defendants. Mr. B. J. Fitzgibbon appeared for O'Connor, and Mr. A. W. Blair for O'Brieii and Co.

In the statement of claim it was set out that O'Connor was "a driver in the employment of O'Brieii and Co. On April '3, 1913, he fell out of a cart in Waterloo' Quay and sustained bruises and wounds on tho nose, and, cheek as well as laceration of. the lower lid of his left eye. . By. reason of these injuries he had since bcon 1 incapacitated from work and had been advised that ho would Lave to undergo an opera-> tiou in connection with the injury to his eye. His average weekly earnings at the time of the accident had been £2 Bs., and he now claimed a weekly sum of £1 4s. ■ from the date of the accident until the trial of the action,, a lump sum representing tho weekly payments due for th'e remainder of the period of liability, and £1 medical expenses. O'Brievt and Co. had paid a sum of £2 Ss. to O'Connor for two weeks' incapacity, but had declined to pay any further sum and had denied further liability. • : '

In. the defence filed by O'Brien and Co. it was admitted that the accident had occurred in the manner mentioned in tho statement of claim, and tlio naturo of tiio injuries was generally admitted. It was denied, however, that O'Connor had | been incapacitated for the period claimed. Tho period of incapacity had been something less than two weeks and tho.amount of £2 Bs. paid to O'Connor was really in excess of the sum to which .lie was entitled.

Mr. Fitzgilbon mentioned at the outset that the main point in dispute was as to tho period of incapacity.

Medical ovideuce was given on both sides and evidence was also given by tin) plaintiff and by J. O'Brien (of the defendant company). - Decision was reserved. Boath UrnJsr an Anaesthetic. On May 24, 1913, Christopher Nicholson, saddler, of Maitinborough, died under ail anaesthetic in the Greytown Hospital. As a result of his death, a compensation claim was hoard in the Court of Arbitration yesterday, the parties being Autonia Nicholson, v. uiow, of Maitinborough, plaintiff, .v d William Francis Gundrio, saddksr, of Martinbnrough, defendant. Mr. T.'Jordan, of Masterton, appeared for' Mrs. Veholson, and Mr. A. W. Blair appeared for Gundrio.

From tho statement of claim, it ap])oared that, ni tho time of his death and for some time prior thereto Christopher Nicholson had been employed by William Francis Gundrio as a saddler. It was alleged that *- on the afternoon of May 16, 1913, Nicholson punctured his right hand with an awl. Septicaemia sot in and Nicholson was ordered to tho Greyfcown Hospital for the purpose of having his hand operated on and drained. He was admitted to the Hospital on May 23, but died tho following day under an anaesthetic. At the time- of his death there were totally dependent on him, Mrs. Nicholson (tho plaintiff), and four children, whose ages ranged from 7 years to 12 years. On behalf of herself and tho four children Mrs. Nicholson claimed £500 as compensation and a further sum of £13 i7s. 6d. to cover medical, surgical, and funeral expenses. The defence was a denial of liability.

Evidence in support of the plaintiff's case was called yesterday, but had not been completed at 5 p.m. The loniinc; was then adjourned until 9 o'clock this morning.